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Rebecca Wener
Gender and Space in Arabic-Islamic Countries
“The problems with the Christians start, as with women, when the hudud, or sacred frontier is not respected… I was born in the midst of chaos, since neither Christians nor women accepted the frontiers.” –(Dreams of Trespass, Pg. 1)
Fatima Mernissi’s quest to understand the various boundaries that divide her native Moroccan society is introduced on the first page of her autobiographical work, Dreams of Trespass. This effort to comprehend the hudud, characterizes not only the story of her childhood, but also defines much of her later work as a sociologist in Morocco.
Mernissi grew up in 1940’s Morocco during a period where conservative social ideas were being challenged by a variety of nationalist, progressive, or iconoclastic ideas. She lived in the city, in a traditional domestic harem. The women of her extended family lived within an enclosure and were allowed to go outside only when they received male permission and then, only if they wore a full veil. However, her grandmother in the countryside, while still living in her own harem, had considerably more physical freedom. To further add to her childhood confusion, during this time, French and Spanish forces occupied Morocco. Their men and women mixed freely and yet isolated themselves from the native Moroccans. Mernissi was faced with the challenge of understanding the contradicting barriers within her own society, as well as the threat posed by the new type of social order, which was introduced by western society.
In her later work as a sociologist, Mernissi returns to the questions that plagued her childhood. Drawing from the work of a variety of Islamic scholars, she develops a set of ideas that describes gender relations in Arab-Islamic society, through spatial terms. Through harems and veils, and also sometimes through more subtle, internalized boundaries (hudud), women in these societies have found themselves cut off from the public sphere of men, politics, and decision making, and confined to an interior “women’s sphere”.
From a historical perspective, Islam originated in the Arabian Peninsula, as a new way to provide order for Arab society. Therefore, it is not altogether surprising that constraints on gender relations were factored into the new social organization that political Islam provided. Mernissi describes Islam as having “…a precise relationship to space…it should not be forgotten that the prophet said that the whole world is a mosque.” (Queens, pg. 64)
Whether or not the Prophet had personally requested women’s segregation is a matter of some debate. However, centuries of tradition have excluded women from active participation inside the actual mosque itself. If one accepts the idea that religious space was not just the mosque, but also the community itself, then it makes sense for women to be excluded from this as well.
Mernissi uses an idea of George Murdock’s to illustrate a key difference between gender relations in western and Islamic societies. In western societies sexual relations are regulated through internalized sexual norms. In other words, both genders may mix freely in public because they have been socialized to obey certain rules for interaction. On the other hand, Islamic societies use external barriers such as veils and harems, in order to maintain order between the sexes. (Veil, pg. 30)
For Mernissi, the difference in the means of regulation betrays a more fundamental difference in terms of how each type of society views women’s sexuality. In western society, female sexuality is considered passive. The male is traditionally the one who initiates, then controls any type of sexual relationship. While Arab-Islamic societies also give control to the men, Mernissi argued that underneath this, there is an implied view of a more active version of female sexuality. (Veils, pg.33) She notes how the feminist writer Quasim Amin “came to the conclusion that women are better able to control the sex impulse than men and consequently sex segregation is a device to protect men not women.”(Veils, Pg. 30)
For Mernissi, it is not a coincidence that fitna, the word for “chaos”, also happens to mean a beautiful woman. Women are considered to be dangerous “femmes fatale,” who seduce men and destroy order. The female is also said to have “quaid” power, which is the ability to overpower men through cunning. Therefore, even if the men appear to be in control, it is the women who ultimately have the power. “The Imam Ghazali sees her power as the most destructive element in Muslim social order in which the feminine is regarded as synonymous with satanic…The whole Muslim organization of social interaction and spatial configuration can be understood in terms of women’s quaid power. The social order than appears as an attempt to subjugate her power and neutralize its destructive effect.”(Veil, pg. 33)
Of course, attitudes and ideas towards women vary throughout the Middle East, according to country and time period. However, Mernissi’s ideas provide a useful framework for studying and comparing the social situations of some of the women in the Middle East. Mernissi presents an Islamic society that traditionally views its women as dangerous fitna, who must be restrained by walls and veils for the preservation of ordered society. Of course, physical barriers are not the only methods for maintaining gender segregation; psychological methods exist as well. However, even these methods have an implied spatial context. Unlike Western norms, which tend to regulate unacceptable behavior while still permitting gender interaction, these psychological norms force another type of veil between women and interaction in the public space.
Although there are a handful of exceptions, historically, the Arab-Islamic system of gender segregation has effectively prevented women from being able to take positions of leadership in the community. As they have been excluded from the public sphere and often from the mosque itself, then they can hardly be expected to hold legitimacy over men. Yet, many women have used a variety of inventive techniques in order to cross over the public sphere, and in some cases, ultimately wield some influence over the rest of society.
Modern Arab literature provides an opportunity to discover something more of the social situation for women in Arab-Islamic societies. I shall apply Mernissi’s ideas about women and gendered space to themes within Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi’s own memoir of her Moroccan childhood inside a harem; In the Eye of the Sun, a novel by Ahdaf Soueif about an upper-class Egyptian woman; The Balcony over Fakihani, a collection of novella about the Lebanese civil war by Liyana Badr; A Woman of Five Season, a story by Layla Atrash about Palestinian immigrants in the Gulf States; and Pillars of Salt, a story by Fadia Faqir about Bedouin women in early 20th century Jordan. This selection of novels, which are taken from a variety of Mid-Eastern countries during different eras, provides an interesting perspective on how Arab women have learned to cope with the spatial restrictions enforced by their societies.
In Dreams of Trespass, Fatima’s cousin Chama shares her own creative theory, which encapsulates the origin of the woman’s harem, and the political conflict that has plagued the Arab world throughout the last several centuries. According to Chama’s story, men once constantly fought each other for power. To stop the fighting, they decided to hold a race to catch women. The man who catches the most women will be the leader. But the women were too strong, so the men needed to figure out away to keep them from escaping. They hit upon the idea of locking them away in houses, which became the first harems. Eventually, the Arabs became very good at the game. Their caliphs collected thousands of women and for a time, they were the most powerful empire. However, according to Chama’s story, the Christians decided to change the rules. Instead of collecting women, they would focus on building powerful ships and weapons. The nation who did the best with this, would become the most powerful. Except, the Christians decided not to tell the Arabs that they had changed the rules. They continued to collect women in harems, and became more and more irrelevant, until the Christian nations were able to conquer them. (Dreams, pg.45)
Despite certain fanciful elements, there are several aspects of this story that are worth analysis. First, is the fact that it gives women an integral role in the establishment of the Arab Empire. While men control the women in the story, there is not a sense that they are innately less capable then the men. Chama, who is telling the story, has a lot of feminist ideas and would not have been likely to portray women in a very negative light. Yet, it is significant that Mernissi has chosen to include the story in her memoir. It is being told by women who are living in a traditional harem setting, and who could have understandably marginalized their own roles in Arab history. The fact that that this does not occur in the novel, suggests the underlying idea of women’s innate competence. Thus, women are excluded from public space for other reasons than their capabilities.
A recurring theme throughout the novels is the role of beauty and aesthetics for women in Arab-Islamic countries. If female sexuality is considered passive in western society, then the push of western feminists to abolish beauty norms can be interpreted as a move to redefine the way they are viewed by men and ultimately, take active control of their sexualities. It is not surprising then, that women in Arab-Islamic countries, where sexual oppression has a different basis, tend to view beauty rituals and feminine aesthetics differently. In fact, throughout the books there is a pattern of feminist women who take active pride in their beauty rituals.
Accepting that Arab-Islamic society already considers female sexuality as inherently active, even if it is controlled by men during daily life, then Arab women do not have the same need to distance themselves from the concept of women as passive sex objects. Beauty rituals can be embraced merely for the women’s own benefit and not to please men.
Perhaps, even more importantly, beauty rituals are a statement of rebellion against the traditional view of the veiled woman. While western feminists have attempted to exclude any sexual illusions from daily interactions with men, Arab-Islamic societies traditionally have already excluded that sexuality by requiring women to wear the veil. When Arab women involve themselves with their own beauty, it is their own way of asserting their control over their bodies as well as their active sexuality. This sentiment is characterized by Fatima’s mother’s upset reaction, when her husband tries to intrude on her beauty rituals. “If men are going to rob me of the only things I still control-then they will be the ones who have power over my beauty.” (233, Dreams of Trespass) In her memoir, Fatima remembers the early feminist messages she received from her female relatives. “A woman’s liberation had to start with skin toning and massage...If society is hard on you, fight back by pampering your skin. Skin is political. Otherwise, why would the Imams order us to hide it?” (Dreams of Trespass, 226)
The beauty rites themselves form an important opportunity for female solidarity within Arab-Islamic societies. In the Eye of the Sun, demonstrates the female beauty rituals that occur before an Egyptian wedding. The formal segregation of the genders that exists in Dreams of Trespass is not apparent in this setting. However, for the sake of the special occasion, a similar segregation occurs, as the women gather in solidarity around the bride. In this case, the men of the house leave for the bride’s “Henna Day” day, and a variety of women gather to help the bride
prepare to look her best for her wedding.
In Dreams, Mernissi devotes many pages to the more common beauty rituals that nevertheless, unite all of the women of the harem, regardless of their disagreements or opinions in other matters. It is also an opportunity for the women of the harem to truly claim that physical space as their own, without any chance of male interference. She recounts how her father actively stayed away during those days and often tried to dissuade his wife from joining in some of the rituals. Fatima’s young male cousin Samir gets expelled from the woman’s hamam (bath) after he proves that he is old enough to be an intrusion in the women’s space by staring at a woman’s breasts.
Any discussion of women in public must focus on women’s clothing, which is hotly contested topic in many Muslim countries. The women in the Mernissi household may not leave the house without extensive covering. Thirty years later, Asya, of In the Eye of the Sun, has more freedom to choose how she dresses. The veil, as well as the full-length hijab, had become rare in the middle of the century, due largely to the socialist and nationalist fervors that infused the region during this era. Yet recently, both have recently been becoming increasingly popular throughout the region.
Confusingly, to many in the West, many women have chosen themselves to be covered in public as a sign of female liberation. One reason for this is to symbolically distance themselves from the westernization that has been eroding their own culture. However, the veil also provides an opportunity for women to interact in the public sphere in an asexual fashion. If men do not have to be distracted by a woman’s physicality, then she theoretically should be able to act in the public sphere without problem. (There is debate as to whether the veil is sufficient to remove the sexual element from men’s temptation. In the Eye of the Sun, contrasts Asya’s westernized life style with one of her more religious students’ who will not even speak in front of men in the classroom.)
In Mernissi’s memoir, one scene describes the elaborate preparations which the women take before they go to the cinema. When they finally go out in public, they are completely covered and must even sit with empty rows surrounding them, in order to make sure that any strange men do not accost them. The pieces of clothing required for merely going outside were so frustrating complex that Fatima’s cousin Chama complains that they were “probably designed to make a woman’s trip through the streets so torturous that she would quickly tire of the effort, rush back home and never dream of going out again.” (Dreams, pg. 118) Yet the trips outside were still an opportunity for some among the harem to exorcise some of their frustration over their confinement. Mernissi relates how her mother was inspired by Quasim Amin’s ideas about men’s lack of sexual control. She decided to make the most of the opportunity to go outside by jokingly playing the part of the “female fatale,” and slaying men with a single look. (Dreams, pg. 121)
Amin urges Arab men to “find ways to develop strength within themselves and overcome their fears, so that women could shed the veil.”(Ibid.) Yet many other voices from Fatima’s childhood openly worried about the results, if the veil was the come off. In another scene, Fatima’s grandmother worries that if both genders were allowed to mix freely, then society would ultimately be unable to function. Although supportive of his wife in many ways, Fatima’s father echoes his mother’s sentiments on clothing: ”if women dress like men, it is more than chaos, it is fana (the end of the world.).” (Dreams, pg.119)
Aesthetics can be a source of solidarity between women. However, it also provides an opportunity for Arab men in several of the books to exert control over their wives and girlfriends. This is true in the case of Ihsan and Nadia in A Woman of Five Seasons.
Throughout a large part A Woman of Five Seasons, Ihsan successfully controls his wife Nadia by manipulating her sexual needs and plying her with beautiful gifts. He considers her to be less as an equal, and more as a sex object and a pretty possession to make others jealous of his good fortune. The book begins with him calling her ‘kitten,’ which he continues to do, no matter how often she expresses her dislike of the pet name. “It hurt her, that he could never see her as anything but his woman.” (Woman, pg. 13) Yet Nadia’s feelings are clearly somewhat conflicted, as it takes her some time to come to terms with her discontent and express her freedom. She feels the cultural constraints of Arab society that require a wife to be obedient. “I wanted to be the skillful woman who wraps her husband around with love and tenderness.” (Woman, pg. 33)
At the same time, it is implied that despite her frustration, she is clearly attracted to the beautiful things that Ihsan is able to give to her. “…She turned violently away [from him]. She smelled traces of her perfume on the edge of the pillow, and took satisfaction in his good taste.” (Woman, pg.14)
In one revealing scene, Nadia debates aesthetics with Jalal, Ihsan’s older brother who chose to fight in the Palestinian resistance instead of make money. Influencing the course of the conversation is the fact that the two of them had come close to marrying, before Jalal gave her up for his younger brother. Nadia challenges him to say that conflict and beauty may not exist in the same place. In other words, there is no space for fine things within the Palestinian resistance. If Jalal had agreed with her, then he would have been implicitly condemning her for rejecting the struggle to be with Ihsan and to live a life with beautiful things. She would have had a reason for directing at herself, some the guilt and the frustration she expresses at her fellow Palestinian immigrants who won’t give up their beautiful things to fight.
Nadia’s feminist awakening is frequently characterized as asexual. “A great snake bites at me…who doesn’t know the meaning of male and female.” (Woman, pg. 34) Her defining act of independence does not involve a romantic affair. Rather, she opens a real estate business, and in a stroke, earns financial freedom from her husband. Later on, when she makes a successful stock trade, she proves to him that she is worthy to be treated as an equal, because she can understand the finances that are traditionally a man’s domain. (It is proven that she actually understands it better than her husband, who finds himself in deep financial trouble at the end of the book.)
Throughout In the Eye of the Sun, Asya’s relationships with both Saif and Gerald also contain similar elements of control and objectification. Although, Saif clearly cares for Asya, he seems to be unable to truly relate to her as she is, and instead prefers to see her as he would like her to be. He as a habit of using his money to buy Asya clothes that he would like her to wear, whether or not they are what she would have liked to wear. “…He stopped in front of a mannequin and said, ‘that would look good on you,’ and I started to cry and kept asking, ‘why does it always have to be beige?” (Eye of the Sun, pg. 707) While the specific situation seems ridiculously trivial, it is symptomatic of the broader communication problems in their relationship.
Saif often doesn’t have patience for many of the things that she cares about. It appears by the end of the book, that he cared, but was simply undemonstrative about his affections. “He wasn’t even angry. He didn’t care. He didn’t care whether I went with him or not.” (Eye of the Sun, pg. 299) Both of them are at fault, because neither of them are able to articulate their issues with the other. While Asya narrates the majority of the novel, there are several passages written from Saif’s perspective, so that the reader may learn some of his thoughts. It is not surprising to discover that each has an incorrect image of the other’s thoughts. Returning to Mernissi’s framework, one may hypothesize cultural reasons for each person’s inability to communicate. Although the social boundaries are less explicit, in many respects, boundaries between the sexes still exist. We see in the books that too much public interaction between the sexes was still not exactly encouraged for the characters in the story. It is likely then, that neither would have had much practice communicating, particularly about deep issues, before their marriage to each other.
Asya’s relationship with Gerald is a challenge to analyze, as it represents a conflict between Western European and Arab Islamic society. Initially, he seems like a perfect escape for Asya from her frustrations with Saif. While westernized in many respects, Saif does not have patience to focus on communicating better with his wife. Yet Gerald seems to be a product of the movement that had swept through many western countries in the 60’s, emphasizing sharing of emotions and communication. However, while he appears at first to be more open to conversing with Asya, he eventually proves himself to be even more close-minded than Saif. He is less interested in listening to what she has to say, but prefers to impress upon her his own image of how she should behave. In the end, she dubs him a “sexual imperialist,” due to his tendency to date women from different cultures in order to control them. Gerald is a warning against over generalizing issues of unequal relationships as a uniquely Arab-Islamic problem. In many respects, he is worse than Saif in his inability to see Asya as a passive sex object, rather than an adult woman.
At the end of In the Eye of the Sun, it is highly appropriate that Asya resolves her personal sexual crisis by involving herself in a family planning project. While her own actions precipitate her affair as well as her subsequent divorce, during most of the novel, she has difficulty controlling her own sexual fate and is mostly reactive to the desires of the man she is with. With Saif, they are unable to have a healthy sexual relationship. This is partly because he of his seeming lack of interest, but also because of her own physical difficulties that she cannot manage to overcome. With Gerald, his manner of sexual control is more overt. He frequently uses sex as a tactic to keep Asya with him. In certain scenes, there is actually questionable consent on Asya’s part. After undergoing two such relationships, with the family planning project, Asya has the opportunity to retake control of her sexual fate. In one scene, she debates herself over the question of how one might be able to get rural Egyptian women to talk to their husbands about sex and child planning. It seems relatively ludicrous that these poor women would ever be in a position where they could actively plan their sexual future for themselves. Despite her radically westernized lifestyle, as compared to these women, Asya has also had a hard time taking command of own sexual fate.
The issue of virginity remains to some degree, a vital issue for Arab women of all classes. Although the books provide some examples of situations where the issue has lost some of it’s importance, in the Bedouin society of Pillars of Salt, virginity retains its traditional significance. It is a woman’s most vital possession. If she looses her virginity before marriage, she is effectively stigmatized forever and ostracized from society. This is the case for Nasra, Maha’s friend in the novel who is raped by Maha’s brother Daffash in an early scene. “My friend had lost her virginity, her honor, her life. She was nothing now.” (Pillars, pg. 11)
The description of Maha’s wedding scene with Harb further highlights the importance that a woman’s virginity holds to the tribe as a whole. It is the thing that determines whether she has value for the tribe, or is simply an unmarriageable, disgraced burden on the resources of the community. As the newlyweds retire for the night, the entire community gathers outside to await proof of Maha’s virginity. When Harb is too nervous, the couple is forced to improvise an alternate solution to protect Maha’s reputation. “The whole tribe went mad when they saw my virgin blood. Another woman of their tribe had proven to be sealed and now was opened. The honey in the jar was safe. I was pure.” (Pillars, pg. 44)
Asya, from In the Eye of the Sun, lives an upper-class life in Egypt that is very different from Maha’s existence. The chances are that the consequences for her, if she was to loose her virginity would not be as serious as they were for Nasra, if she had chosen to loose to her virginity before marriage. However, numerous examples in the book suggest that sex before marriage is still very much a taboo, even for modern, upper class Egyptians. Although they engage in a serious relationship for more than four years before their marriage, Saif refuses to have sex with Asya until they are actually wedded.
In the Eye of the Sun, demonstrates how money provides an opportunity to bypass some of the restrictions that are placed on women. For example, Asya flies to Beirut to have an illicit rendezvous with Saif. She is able to avoid the social restrictions of her society in a way that a lower-class woman would not be able to do. However, even among the rich and modern Egyptians depicted in the book, incidents of traditional gender segregation still occur.
Not only husbands, but other male relatives will exert control over the women in their family. In the Eye of the Sun contains a modern example of a brother, who attempted to restrict his sister from public interaction with a man. Taha, the brother of Asya’s friend Chrissie, reacts very badly when he sees Chrissie walking to the bus with a plutonic male friend. Chrissie protests that the situation was innocent; they were involved in conversation and it had clearly not occurred to her during the fact that there would be anything wrong with continuing the conversation outside of school on the way to the bus stop. Taha, meanwhile, reacts to the scene with mortification and rage over the perceived damage to the family’s reputation. The dynamics of the family reveal themselves during this scene: although Chrissie and her mother are both educated women, they must plead with her brother and then her father, in order to convince them that Chrissie does not deserve a punishment for her “misdeed”. It is also demonstrated that because Taha is male, his version of events are given much more credence than Chrissie and Asya’s version of what has occurred.
Pillars of Salt, contrasts the lives of two Jordanian women: a Bedouin woman named Maha, and a middle class city-dweller named Um Saad. Although Um Saad does have a little bit of education, she is pulled out of school very early. Her days are confined to the home, and when she does leave, she must be completely covered. When she gets married, her father tricks her into marrying an older man who rapes her and, years later, abandons her for a second wife. Although, Maha ultimately is also affected by misogyny, she is has more freedom of movement and expression. In the course of the story, Bedouin society is portrayed as affording more opportunities for women to take control of their lives. Maha has a chance to prove herself with her actions: because she proves more dedicated to the farm than other brother, her father decides to leave the land to her even though it is against tradition to leave it to a daughter. She is also offered the chance to decide whether she would like to marry Harb. This runs counter to the stereotype of totally arranged marriages in Arab societies.
The stories of A Thousand and One Arabian Nights, figure prominently in Mernissi’s memoir. First, the story help provide a fantastical escape from reality. It is an unconventional opportunity to avoid the restrictions of the harem. Scheherazade herself is also an important role model for Fatima’s development. She represents a way in which women may gain influence, even over powerful and intimidating men, simply by using words effectively. Fatima is transfixed by the idea that words can hold so much power and becomes set on learning how to use language the same way. From this revelation, the stories that the women tell may take on a new layer. They are not simply for the sake of an interesting escape, but they are also a way for the women to pass on to their daughters an important skill set that they might be able to use outside of the women’s harem.
Princess Budur is a lesser-known figure from Scheherazade’s tales, whose story is retold inside of Trespass. Due to a set of unfortunate circumstances, she is forced to dress like a man and impersonate a prince to a nearby King. Budur impresses the king so much, that he decides, under the impression that she is a man, to marry her to his own daughter and have her inherit the kingdom. Left with no choice, Budur eventually reveals herself to the daughter and the two of them decide to continue the deception and rule together. The story is importantly, first, for its theme of women’s solidarity. This is a theme that is encountered consistently throughout the novels. Although fictional, it is also an example of a female political leader of an Arab-Islamic state. Many influential men have consistently denied the possibility of a female Arab leader (and, Mernissi points out, they have denied the existence of most of the few female leaders who did exist). Telling Budur’s story inside of a very popular piece of literature, contradicts the authorities by suggesting that a woman leader can be possible and even successful, even it is not very likely.
“The problem with some of Chama’s favorite feminists, especially the early ones, was that they did not do much besides write, since they were locked up in harems.” (Dreams, pg. 128) For the women of Trespass, the famous Arab women feminists are less interesting role models than the romantic Lebanese singer Asmahan. The city women could not even leave the house unless they were heavily veiled. However, Asmahan’s life embodied romantic expression in the public sphere. She had met exciting people, had romantic love affairs and died at a tragically young age. The women of the novel were less interested in classic western feminist ideas about equal opportunities for men and women. Rather, they were looking for sexual liberation and increased opportunities for expression. “Arab women, forced to dance along in closed-off courtyards, admired Asmahan for realizing their dreams of hugging a man close in a Western-style dance, and swaying with him in a tight embrace. Aimless enjoyment, with a man by your side also totally engaged in the same, was the image that Asmahan projected.” (Dreams, pg. 105)
Another common theme through many of the books is political struggle, whether against colonial European powers, against Israel, or as part of the Lebanese civil war. The books demonstrate a connection between violent, nationalist struggles, and some opening up in society of opportunities for women. A Women of Five Seasons, includes a character named Najwa Thabit, who is likely the fictional equivalent of Leila Khalid, a well-known Palestinian resistance fighter. Najwa is able to travel around the Middle East, entreating support for the Palestinian cause. She eventually marries Jalal, and is clearly described as being his equal in terms of influence for the Palestinian cause. “The assignments she’d taken on were famous the world over. A courageous girl with a strong personality, no doubt influential in the group.” (Woman, pg. 102)
Tamou is a figure in Yasmina’s harem in Dreams of Trespass. She was a resistance fighter with the Rif people who fought the European Imperialists long after the rest of the country had been pacified. After Yasmina’s husband gives her refuge, she eventually marries him and moves into his harem. Nevertheless, for the other women of the harem, she redefines both what a woman can be capable, as well as what is considered beautiful. “Because she was a war heroine, certain rules did not apply to her. She even behaved as if she did no know about tradition…Fighting, swearing, and ignoring tradition could make a woman irresistible.” (Dreams, 52-53)
Of all of the novels, The Balcony over Fakihani shows the least overt misogyny. One reason for this is that Lebanon was long considered a comparatively westernized haven in the Middle East. Thus, cultural and traditional taboos about gender were not as overpowering in Beirut as in other parts of the Arab-Islamic world. This is also demonstrated in In The Eye of the Sun, when Asya and Saif go to Beirut. Despite Asya’s nerves, the lady at their hotel realizes that they are together but unmarried, and she is not upset at all.
More importantly in the context of the violent Lebanese civil war, lots of the traditional ideas about gender segregation are pushed aside in order to pursue more immediate survival. Thus, the stories in The Balcony over the Fakihani, which take place during the civil war era, can be interpreted partially as a result of extraordinary circumstances. Although the female characters do not actively take part in the fighting, there is a lot to suggest that they may interact with men with a degree of freedom and openness which is not seen, even in In the Eye of the Sun, which takes place during the same period. Women and men mix frequently in public settings. Fakihani, is in fact, the only book where women’s liberation does not seem to be a major theme. The new threat of civil war means that men and women band together for survival, and internal problems tend to be forborne until the other threat has been reduced.
Even in Dreams of Trespass although the Nationalist struggle is not overtly violent, there is still a link that is established between nationalism and gender equality. “ [The famous Egyptian feminist] managed to do two seemingly contradictory things at the same time-fight the British occupation and end her traditional seclusion and confinement.” (Dreams, pg. 130-131) The Moroccan nationalists were often at the forefront of any movement that opened up opportunities for women. “The nationalists had promised to create a new Morocco, with equality for all. Every woman was to gave the same right to education, as well as the right to enjoy monogamy.” However, once these struggles resolved themselves, they did not necessarily lead to measurable gains.
An interesting device in Pillars of Salt is the use of male narrator, who retells pieces of the plot as if they are taken from local folklore or religious mythology. This unnamed storyteller travels with a donkey and a monkey, two figures common in Islamic folklore, which adds credibility to the idea that perhaps, he is the voice of the traditional Arab-Islamic thinkers who would have looked unfavorably upon a woman like Maha. The ironic contrast provides a challenge to other pieces of Islamic mythology. If the storyteller prefaces his sections with references to Allah and other allusions towards piousness, yet is gravely wrong in the way he tells his story, then perhaps other traditional stories, especially those that restrict women, may be challenged as well.
He casts Maha as malevolent figure, who works black magic to bring about all of the events of the book. Interestingly, in his version of the story, Maha is responsible for all of the events of her life, perhaps through her use of quaid power, to control the men in her life. Ironically, the consistent theme throughout the sections she narrates is that she is powerless in the face of the many tragedies of her life. (In the storyteller’s version, the only events she is not able to control are those events, including Harb’s death, which are brought about because of the political situation with the British. This speaks to the general sense of vulnerability towards the consuming political events of the day. Even the destructive quaid force of women, is no match for the destruction caused by European imperialism. )
Both inside the novels, and in other recent writings, one finds evidence of a growing debate over Islam’s positions on women’s rights. Traditionalists suggest that Islam has always advocated the separation of men from women and current stereotypes of Islam in the west tend to corroborate the popular image of a misogynist religion. However, many modern feminist scholars have revisited old texts and found much evidence to suggest the existence of a classical form of Islam that was highly egalitarian in its nature.
“Each thing is by God’s command and no thing may come to pass except He command it.”(Soueif,758-9) The inevitability of fate is a classic Islamic idea and it is also a reoccurring theme throughout several of the novels. Most prominently, in Pillars of Salt, both women lead very different lives and have two different responses to their problems. Yet, no matter what they did or did not do, both end up in the same situation at the end of the book. This feeling of inevitability touches even Asya, even though she rarely factors religion into her life. She might struggle to teach family planning concepts to rural women, but she still cannot help but question the wisdom of what she is doing.
This religious debate is evident in several of the books, but most prominently inside Dreams of Trespass, as evidenced by the divisions among the women of the harem. Both the traditionalist and modern groups are shown to quote the Koran in the service of their own, conflicting viewpoints. Mernissi herself, has developed controversial ideas in her own writings.
“ The women talked heatedly about fate and happiness, and how to escape the first and pursue the second. Women’s solidarity, many agreed, was the key to both.” (Dreams, pg. 143) Disagreements over religious and cultural notions can often impede on that solidarity. Inside of the harem in Dreams of Trespass, we see the formation of two different camps of women. The older women in the harem tend to support continuing gender separations. They are the ones who benefit from the separation, because they exert power over the other women.
Where solidarity does develop between women, it can take many forms. Women in the country harem plant a banana tree to make a new Sudanese wife feel more comfortable. Fatima, as the representative of the next generation of women, is subjected to all of their hopes for increased equality. Multiple members of the harem tell her that she is expected to become educated and make a better and more important life for herself.
Women in the story also feel solidarity with women in difficult situations from far away. For example, the women of the harem feel a lot of sympathy with the wife of the Egyptian king, who is divorced by her husband simply because she fails to provide him with a son.
Solidarity against shared gender oppression is sometimes, but not always, enough to unite women across class or social boundaries. In Pillars of Salt, Um Saad’s unhappiness at being placed in a mental institution is initially compounded by the fact that she, as a city woman, has to share a bedroom with a Maha, who is a Bedouin woman. Yet Maha’s attentive care soon wins her friendship. In Dreams of Trespass, as the sole upper-class city woman in a country harem, Lalla Thor antagonizes many of the other women with attitude of superiority.
In Pillars of Salt, Maha is frequently scandalized by the city women who visit the Bedouin community and wear what seems to her to be, indecently revealing clothing. As a plot device, demonstrating the loose morals of the women, further establishes Daffash’s negative nature for choosing their company. Furthermore, it suggests that women’s liberation is not necessarily tied to the amount of skin they can show in public. Maha still retains many traditional ideas about appropriate dress, yet she has opportunities to do a man’s work on her father’s farm and she has been able to determine her own life. The city women look down upon her. Yet, because they pass the time with a man like Daffash, it is likely that they do not have a particularly equitable environment in their own lives.
An important event in In the Eye of the Sun, is the death of Ismail Mursi, Asya’s grandfather. In the course of this event, it is revealed that there had been a rift between Ismail and his wife for many years before his death as he carried on a relationship with one of their maids. The two sisters, Soraya and Lateefa demonstrate their displeasure, not only that their father has turned from their mother, but also that he has taken up with a working class woman. They fear that the class difference will reflect badly on themselves.
Throughout the novels, the responses of male characters to the struggles of the female protagonists, often take on unexpected forms. Despite living in one of the most overtly segregated societies, Fatima’s father is notably sympathetic to the difficulties of his wife. On one hand, he clearly supports the basic idea of the harem system, as he disagrees with her whenever she starts talking about creating fundamental changes to the system. He won’t risk offense to his mother, by taking his family out of the harem. Yet, he does his best to help his wife in her discontentment, by creating smaller opportunities for escape, such as picnics on the roof.
The men of Mernissi’s family had little trouble adopting western clothing as well as other products. However, women who tried to do this were generally frowned upon for abandoning their culture. This double standard suggests, the fragility of the external barriers which Arab-Islamic societies are based upon. While men still have control over women’s confinement, the women who start to accept a western lifestyle, with its habit of both sexes interacting freely, will become less likely to accept her confinement.
The Bedouin community portrayed in Pillars of Salt is full of contradictory attitudes towards women. On one hand, women are permitted a degree of freedom in their daily lives which is unrivaled by most of the other women in the other novels. The practical necessities of living in the countryside required that women would have more freedom of movement and would have to take on some of the physical labors at the farm. While this meant that women were given more respect and more opportunities to make decisions for themselves, there remained an undercurrent of culturally rooted misogynism that remained pervasive in the community.
Maha’s father forgoes religious and cultural pressure when he decides to leave his land to her instead of her brother. In one respect, it is a pragmatic decision because she is the one who has farmed and taken care of the land. Meanwhile, her brother Daffash preferred to pass his time with the English in the city. However, once their father has died, Daffash disputes the decision with the full support of most of the men in the village, who are concerned about preserving the traditional and cultural rights of a son over a daughter. “It was not rape. She was begging me for it and my manhood did not allow me to let her go without giving her what she asked for.” (Pillars, pg. 67)
The relationship between Maha and Harb is one of the most equitable relationships depicted in any of the novels. At her request, the marriage is ultimately consummated not in their bed, but during an unconventional nighttime visit to the Dead Sea. With Harb, Maha finds the opportunity to be in a loving relationship where she is respected, without being forced to adhere to all the traditional ideas about how a good woman should act. She realizes a well that this is an opportunity which most of the women of her society will never have. “The look in his eyes was one of respect and delight…No I would not follow my mother’s advice. Women of Hamia, you were living in a heap of dung.” (Faqir, pg. 54)
Within Pillars of Salt, Harb’s good nature is contrasted with Maha’s brother Daffash. He is described badly, first, for his enthusiastic involvement with the British colonialists. (Because of this, it may be that he is a metaphor for Arab leaders who corroborated with the British.) An added insult to his honor is his dealings with women in the community. At the beginning of the novel, he rapes Maha’s friend Nasra and is able to avoid any serious consequences while Nasra is ostracized. He attempts to rape another women, and is only stopped by the threat of her husband’s displeasure. In both cases, he defends himself by putting the blame on the women, for initiating the rape with their sexually provocative behavior. His attitude is an extreme example of the traditionally misogynist attitudes, which endow women with quaid power to overpower men and accomplish their wills. Ultimately, this attitude is proved to be shared by all of the men as the village, who all see Maha’s acts of independence against her brother as a general threat against every man in the community.
Mernissi’s memoir ends with an explanation of the hudud, which is provided for her by a member of her harem. “The frontier indicates the line of power because wherever there is a frontier, there are two kinds of creatures walking on Allah’s earth, the powerful on one side and the powerless on the other…if you can’t get out, you are on the powerless side.” (Dreams, pg. 242) Although it sometimes took on unexpected forms, the women in each of the novels struggled against some form of social barrier that prevented them from entering the public sphere. Yet in each case, they created innovative tactics to deal with those restrictions and sometimes to cross over into the public sphere and gain some of the influence reserved for men. Women’s sexuality as well as feminine aesthetics played vital roles, either as justifications for restricting women’s access to the public sphere, or as tools to win access and influence. Likewise, both traditionalists and iconoclasts used religion to find justification for their positions. Education and money often served as important tools for promoting a feminist agenda. Yet, the novels demonstrate that those with both education and money were not always the most liberated. Sometimes poor women from the country had more opportunities than those living in the cities. In all cases, the specter of political conflict with Europe hung over the internal struggles in the Arab countries. In cases where political conflict turned violent, often feminist struggles were shelved in favor of solidarity from external enemy. Under these climates, women often had the best chance of equal opportunities with men.
Bibliography
Al-Atrash, Leila. 2002.A Woman of Five Seasons. New York: Interlink Books.
Badr, Liyana.2002. A Balcony over the Fakihani. New York: Interlink Books.
Faqir, Fadia. 2004. Pillars of Salt. Northampton, MA: Interlink Books.
Mernissi, Fatima. 1975. Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Company, Inc.
Mernissi, Fatima. 1995. Dreams of Trespass. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.
Mernissi, Fatima. 1993. The Forgotten Queens of Islam. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Soueif, Ahdaf. 1992. In the Eye of the Sun. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, LTD.